In the Heart of the Beast announces 2019 MayDay Parade to be the last

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Another struggling arts organization.Sheila Regan at City Pages reports on the financial woes at In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre: “MayDay brings in $150,000 in income for the organization, but costs between $180,000-$200,000 to produce. Since [Corrie] Zoll assumed the role of executive director three and a half years ago, he has tried to think of different scenarios that would cut down the cost of putting on MayDay, but has come up short. Costs like safety and having enough bathrooms aren’t flexible numbers.”

Soybeans are so 2018.Adam Belz at the Star Tribune also has a piece on current financial upheaval, this one concerning Minnesota farmers: “But thanks to improved seed and favorable weather, wheat farmers have gotten better yields in recent years and enjoyed a bumper crop in 2017. Meanwhile, prices for corn and soybeans were low, prompting more to switch to the small grain that covered more than 3 million acres in Minnesota in the early 1980s.“

Mending political fences.Mara H. Gottfried at the Pioneer Press reports on Bob Fletcher and Bill Finney putting aside their political rivalry for the common good: “Finney, who was Minnesota’s first African-American police chief and led the St. Paul police department for 12 years, will be undersheriff of community relations. ‘It’s no secret since (Michael Brown was fatally shot by an officer in) Ferguson in 2013, the gap between some communities and law enforcement has widened,’ Fletcher told the county board Tuesday. ‘It’s a top priority for me and I know it’s a top priority for Bill. We have to find a way to earn the trust.'”

Metal meddling.KSTP-TV has a story and video on thieves in St. Paul swiping copper from city lights: “‘The damage to the light poles depends on how they got in. It really can vary from situation to situation and it ends up being thousands of dollars of damage for the city to repair these light poles,’ Lisa Hiebert with the city’s public works department said.”

Hitting the ground running.Also at KSTP, Gov. Tim Walz announces his first executive order: “Gov. Tim Walz is expected to sign his first executive order Wednesday. The order will establish the One Minnesota Council on Diversity, Inclusion and Equity. It will reportedly expand upon a council formed by former governor Mark Dayton in an effort to include individuals from different backgrounds throughout the state.”